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This time, it really was a snow day that resulted in another “snow day.”

That wasn’t freezing rain that meant the cancellation of school buses across the region on Wednesday morning, it was the anticipation of a significant snowfall, that in Cornwall and the Seaway Valley would arrive on schedule, beginning just after 10 a.m. and intensifying as the day went on.

The return of severe winter weather wasn’t exactly a ferocious one – it was nothing close to the last big snow dump in the region, back on Jan. 13, when there were several hours of blizzard conditions and a total accumulation of 25 centimetres and drifting that in some cases reached 45 centimetres.

Still, by mid-afternoon on Wednesday, heavy snowfall meant reduced visibility, and a temperature of -10 C made walking anywhere fairly unpleasant. The weather resulted in some closures, including the cancellation of Eastern Ontario Health Unit prenatal classes in both Cornwall and Alexandria.

And a Science and Nature on Tap speaker series event that was to be held at Schnitzels in Cornwall, featuring environmental biologist Chloe Lajoie from the Natural Edge program, had to be postponed on Wednesday night.

“Unfortunately due to today’s weather forecast and the speaker has to travel, the River Institute is postponing (the event),” said Karen Douglass Cooper, the institute’s communications/community outreach officer. “We’re hoping to have this talk rescheduled for later in the season.”

The Seaway Valley was likely to see more snow than elsewhere in the region – possibly as much as 20 centimetres. There were school bus cancellations by the CDSBEO, the Upper Canada board, as well as Limestone board in the Kingston area and the Hastings & Prince Edward board.

There’s light snow in the forecast for several different days over the next week, but temperatures will actually be above seasonal for the most part. The daytime high for the next week is expected to range between -6 C and 3 C, well above the expected seasonal values for early February, which is generally the coldest time of the year.

The overnight low dips to a chilly -14 C on Thursday, but for the rest of the week, values aren’t expected to drop below -10 C.